I have chosen to stop selling my photography in limited editions. For many reasons:
- every print is indeed unique: by the context of its creation (exposition, order, personal research), by the format, by the paper, the inks, the printer used. In fact, it is almost impossible to create identical prints.
- I wish that my photos are bought because of the emotion they carry, not speculation
- currently none of my pictures has been printed more than 6 times, artist's proofs inclusive. They are defacto limited editions
- one print of one of the most duplicated picture in history (1300 exemplaries of Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico by Ansel Adams) was sold more than 6 million dollars
- in creating limited editions, photographers transfer the benefits of their work to gallery owners and speculators
- limited editions restrict access to a print to the only people able to afford them - not necessarily my preferred audience
- intentionally destroying a negative, or the original photographic numeric file is destroying knowledge
- I would like to retain the right to perform experimentations in the future, howvever not being at risk of violating my own terms
A discussion about this topic on linkedin
An essay about the subject by Alain Briot